Important Point
Rioting and arson is not permissible in name of agitation.

By this application under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the applicant ' “original accused seeks to invoke the inherent powers of this Court praying for quashing of the First Information Report registered as C.R. No.I-135 of 2015 with the Amroli Police Station, Surat of the offence punishable under Sections 124A, 115, 153A, 505(2) and 506 of the Indian Penal Code.

2. The case of the prosecution may be summarized as under:

2.1 The first informant is the Deputy Commissioner, Zone 3, Surat City. It is the case of the first informant that past about four months, there is a strong agitation going on in the State of Gujarat as regards the reservation for the members of the Patidar Patel Community. The applicant accused is the Convener of a committee known as the 'Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti’. The applicant accused in his capacity as the Convener of the organization declared 'Bandhs’, convened public meetings and various other programmes as a part of the agitation. According to the organization, the Patidar Patel community is being neglected by the State Government in respect of both education and employment. In the last few months, the State of Gujarat, more particularly, the cities like, Ahmedabad, Surat, Mehsana and Rajkot witnessed worst of the riots, in which, extensive damage was caused by the members of the organization as well as the people of the Patidar community and others to the public properties by torching the police stations, public buses, etc. Few innocent people lost their lives. On 02.10.2015 i.e. a day prior to the seditious statement alleged to have been made by the applicant accused herein which is the subject-matter of controversy, one police officer lost his life in the riots.

2.2 It is the case of the prosecution that with a view to maintain law and order and to immediately curb the prejudicial activities of the members of the organization and others, action was taken by the police in the form of arrest, etc. Many prosecutions have been initiated against the persons responsible for rioting, arson, etc. One Piyush Desai, a resident of Surat, is one of the accused persons against whom a complaint has been lodged. He was arrested. Piyush Desai declared that if appropriate steps were not taken by the State Government against the erring police officers and if justice was not done with the people of the patidar community, then he would self immolate himself. Mr. Desai also demanded that all the prosecutions instituted against the supporters of the agitation should be withdrawn by the State Government at the earliest. In the wake of such threats given by Shri Piyush Desai, the applicant accused herein thought fit to visit him at his residence situated at D404, Krishna Complex, Mota Varachha, Amroli, Surat, on 3rd of October, 2015. At the time of his visit at the house of Shri Vipul Desai, there were hundreds of other people along with the applicant accused. It is the case of the prosecution that the media and officials of a T.V. Channel were also present along with the applicant accused. The gravamen of the charge against the applicant herein is that he advised or rather made a statement before Shri Vipul Desai that ' kill 2 to 5 police officers, otherwise, son of a Patel would not die'. Such statement or advice is alleged to have been given by the applicant accused to Shri Desai before hundreds of people who were present at the house of Shri Desai and also before the reporters of the TV9 Gujarati news channel. It is the case of the prosecution that the entire conversation between the applicant accused herein and Shri Desai was videographed and was telecasted on the local TV channels. It is the case of the prosecution that the advice given to Shri Desai by the applicant, in his capacity as convener of the organization or rather the statement made by the applicant, constitutes an offence under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code. It is the case of the prosecution that the situation, at a